Script — Prima Facie

This is the core of your script. You must show that your proposed plan will actually solve the harms you identified. Provide a clear mechanism for change. Cite examples of where similar plans worked. How to Format a Prima Facie Script

Your script must stay within the boundaries of the defined topic. Define key terms clearly. Show how your plan fits these definitions. 2. Harm or Significance

Cover the character names on your script. If you cannot tell who is speaking based on the vocabulary and rhythm alone, the voices are too similar. The Structural Framework: The First Ten Pages prima facie script

Establishing a strong starting point is the most critical phase of any formal argument. A well-constructed script ensures that every necessary element of a claim is present from the very beginning. What is a Prima Facie Case?

Keep sluglines lean. Use INT. LOCATION - DAY or EXT. LOCATION - NIGHT . Avoid overly descriptive headers. 2. Visually Lean Pages (The "White Space" Rule) This is the core of your script

Tessa is introduced as a brilliant, working-class barrister who has mastered the patriarchal "rules of the game". She takes pride in winning, even when defending those accused of sexual assault, believing firmly that the law is not about truth, but about the burden of proof and the legal "test". Act II: The Witness

First, regarding : We will introduce City Ordinance 402, showing the defendant had a legal obligation to clear ice from their storefront. Cite examples of where similar plans worked

Characters rarely say exactly what they mean. True emotion lives between the lines.

A prima facie script does not hide a character's core desire. While characters can have secrets, their immediate dramatic needs must be transparent to the audience. Want vs. Need

The ending is not a neat victory. Miller refuses the fantasy of a perfect legal remedy. Instead, Tessa finds a loophole not in law but in language—changing the question from “What did you do?” to “What happened to you?” The final monologue, where she speaks directly to “any woman in a room alone with a man,” is raw, angry, and hauntingly unresolved. It earns its catharsis without lying.

"The defendant went into the house and stole a TV."